The loneliness epidemic wasn’t caused by the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown … but it has intensified and magnified it internationally.
Some stats from a survey of 2,000 people in London:
• Four in ten people experience days without talking to a single person.
> 25% of respondents say they would often go days on end without speaking to anyone before the pandemic.
> 37% have recently experienced days in which they have had no contact with a single person.
Loneliness is on the rise … this survey of 2,000 British adults found that one quarter feel like they have NO friends.
• 14% are afraid they’ve lost some friends forever.
• 26% of surveyed adults admit they felt lonely at the time of the poll. One in ten agree that they often feel even more isolated after hanging up a video call.
• 40% have turned to comfort food.
• 25% indulge in alcohol.
• 75% admit they haven’t tried to speak to anyone about how they’re feeling.
• 40% with an older loved one have noticed a decline in that person’s mental or physical health since the coronavirus emerged.
• Those who live alone have gone an average of 11 days without talking to anyone.
Are you feeling loneliness, too? We have some loneliness solutions on our website: josh.org/loneliness/.
Praying for YOU, friend,
Josh D. McDowell
Source: John Anderer, “Lockdown loneliness: COVID-19 quarantine has quarter of adults feeling like they have no friends”, Study Finds, July 1, 2020, https://www.studyfinds.org/lockdown-loneliness-covid-19-quarantine-has-quarter-of-adults-feeling-like-they-have-no-friends/
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